Those who call themselves "Christian": Is it okay to pay lip-service to Jesus while letting people starve?

Question

Mark 10:19-24
"Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
"And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
"Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
"And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.
"And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
"... Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."

Mark 10:28-30
"Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.
"And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,
"But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life."

Answer 1

No it isn't OK in my opinion. As a Christian I live a humble life and help those in need whether it be money ,food or shelter. I do not have a lot to give but I do my best. Often doing without so others can have shoes or food.

Answer 2

First, one must understand what should be understood by this particular bit of gospel.

I think that the real lesson isn't that one should feed every starving person on the planet, or that all should renounce every posession that they have. The main point is that an individuals riches oughtn't to rule them, and that was the problem with the rich man. He was clinging to his riches for security rather than his spirituality.

Indeed, a person with great wealth is likely able to bring sustenance to others much moreso than a person who has nothing. Do you believe that god would rather have a rich individual give up everything and stop helping those who they are capable of helping, than to be a good steward of what they have and still do wonderful things?

Also, often misunderstood is the phrase "eye of a needle", which many interpret as a sewing needle, rather than a what it really was. The needle's eye was a low gate to a city, whch a camel was required to pass through in a low position, sort of crawling. A camel wouln't pass through this gate on their own, but rather needed to be led.

What Christ was saying is that a rich man is unlikely to enter heaven because it is not natural for them to lt go of what is giving them security. From a spiritual viewpoint, one must decide in what one places their security. Is it in things, or is it something greater?

Answer 3

Who are Christians "letting" starve , and Pray tell how are we doing it ? I have never been asked by my Church to provide a Christian blockade of grocery stores so people will starve ?? The only people that are Starving because of Christians are the unbelievers who have been offered to be fed the Word of God , but refuse to show up at the table and feast on The Word of God !!! As your question leads one to believe you are a non-believer , atheist , or another one of mankinds " I`m not taking responsibility for anything crowd ", or it`s "always somebody else's fault gang " ; why are you and all the "others" ( that gripe and complain about someone else ) letting people starve while you`re not being responsible for, or not believing in anything and paying lip service to your "self-centered" "believe in nothing" pride and selfish mind set ??? I don`t know of any "atheist" sponsored homeless shelters , atheist soup kitchens , or self paid atheist mission trips to villages in other countries that need help with home building , crop planting instruction , finding clean area`s for wells to be dug for fresh water !!!. How many times have you left your job and family ( if you have either one ) to go overseas for 2 to 4 weeks or more, at your own expense to do anything to help anybody with anything , my guess is you probably don`t leave your neighborhood ?? Next time you ask a question about a Christian , stand in front of your mirror and ask yourself the same question ; or better yet , ask your self why are you even here , what is your purpose in life ? You unbelievers have removed God and His teachings from every aspect of life , schools , work place , public buildings , and then wonder why the world is so messed up , Oh , lets blame the Christians ? As an unbeliever I bet you take off work on The Christmas & Easter Holiday`s don`t you ? If you were really as unbelieving as you appear to be , you would demand to work like a real unbeliever on Christian Holy Days .. !! Get a life , get off you butt and do something for someone beside yourself !!! Talk is cheap , do it , and then you can talk about it !!************** Proverbs 16 : 6 .. By mercy and truth iniquity is purged : and by fear of the Lord men depart from evil .................................... May The Lord touch you with His Mercy , Have a Blessed Day !!

Answer 4

the young boy was wealthy or from a wealthy family. He didn't' understand what it was to deprive oneself for others. The wealthy are more concerned in appearance, and money in some cases is their god. Not all the wealthy are like this. Your answer sir is just a Jesus stated "how hard is it for them that trust in riches. They trusted in their wealth and not in the Lord himself. If you will take the time and such the scriptures you will find where Jesus himself says that we will always have the poor with us. Yet what is the meaning of poor? their are those that are in other countries that don't have what we have in the U.S. yet they have a love for the gospel more than we Americans. It is worse to be poor in heart then to be material poor. You also stated that people were starving. My question is in what way, food? spiritually? Yes without food your body dies, without God you perish. I would like to talk with you more on this subject, for I have question about your lifestyle per say and what you do for those that are starving. There are many out in the world that don't believe in Jesus yet they give to others. So it is hard for me to understand why you would use just "Christian".

Answer 5

Maybe you should be directing your anger toward congress!No matter what your religious choices are,you get to pay taxes.You have a choice to send contributions to entities that supposidly raise funds to help the poor.
There is more than enough food to go around.However alot of it is rotting in warehouses because the government has their own agenda.
Have you ever asked yourself-Why,with all these organizations-Goodwill,unicef,food for life,just to name a few of the hundreds or more of these help groups-why are there STILL victems.Where is the money going.
Maybe you should be researching these things before you go spouting off on something you dont even have a clue on.

Answer 6

I am beginning to think this is a child asking these questions.
The text this person is using has no relation to the initial question.

Are you asking for financial help in a very passive manner making an attempt to hide your buried anger?? Is your family poor? Please call your local church or center that assists people in financial need. You will find many Christians there volunteering and willing to help you with donations of some sort - that probably came from other Christians.

Answer 7

HI, I am Deva. It is verry ironic and too cruel while there are many people starving, we can pay lip service. Everything we said, it had better to know that we have done it before. It is better to do it first than only talking, I mean doing whatever Christ said to us. So, if we have plenty of money and we letting the other people starving to die, while we singing and praising God in church without doing anything that worthy enough, it is a verry cruel action. Thankyou. God bless you.

Answer 8

How are we letting people starve when Jesus said "give to the poor?"

I pasted this from YOUR question.

How did you not understand what is right in front of you? What lip-service? There is no lip-service mentioned anywhere in the passages. Are you feeling OK? If your life is going wrong, it's not God's fault. Be responsible for yourself. Life is what YOU make it. Step up. Get financial counseling or something.

Answer 9

Hello, Orion:

I've had people tell me that as a Christian I have to give to them. What an abuse of God's compassion: the Bible says in II thessalonians 3:10: "This we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. "

I had several hundred pounds of donated food to give to the needy one Christmas, but after going house to house and giving food to those who wasted their money on tobacco, alcohol and, YES, soda pop, I became frustrated and drove three hours to Mexico where people cry when we give them a lunch sack of pinto beans. "God bless you," they would say with tears streaming down their eyes, "we did not know what we were going to feed our children."

While doing missionary work in the tropics, one fat man out of work, asked for money. I told him to get a cart of oranges and squeeze them on the street--many people make a living working like that. Yes, before I'd beg, I'd shine shoes.

Certainly there are those whose circumstances prevent them from working. But their troubles may be because they are under the curse of sin for transgressing God's law. He promises us to seek the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you. So, sometimes we let sinners alone, hoping that their calamity will draw then to repentance, and while laying on their back, they may look up to heaven and say, "Save me, My Lord, and I'll walk in straight paths to heaven. God grieves for even the sparrow that falls to the ground, and he will help you if you place your trust in Him. If you do this, then you deserve this from brethren in Chruch.

Blessigns, One-Way

Answer 10

I choose neither "lip service" nor "donations to the poor" b/c God judges my heart, not my mouth, and the governments are supposed to solve economic problems in the world. Let's not to confuse politics and religion. Religions are about spirituality, not material possessions and economic equality among people. Have you ever noticed, when Jesus was here on Earth, he didn't solve the economic and political problems of the Jewish people.